The Closer will continue, in modified form, but nothing can replace Eureka, dern it.

One thing I simply could not buy in Political Animals was Ciaran Hinds as the most popular president since JFK. The man is completely lacking in charisma, and his performance turned the former president into a southern-fried buffoon. There's no chemistry between him and Sigourney Weaver, so their one bed scene just wasn't believable at all. The politicking was fun, though.

During Eureka's finale, didn't you find yourself waiting for some miracle to save the town? Their loss of funding, the packing up and moving, the goodbyes -- the show just couldn't end on that sad a note, even with the comic/threatening wormholes lightening the mood. The show needed some last-minute deus ex machina to come swooping in and save the town in the most unpredictable and improbable way imaginable, and that's exactly what happened. As a final episode, it was perfect.

There's been a lot of talk about how Political Animals might be a picture of the Clintons if Hillary had kicked Bill out instead of "standing by her man". But I thought the best scenes were the ones in which Elaine and the journalist went head to head. Rita, I agree completely about Hinds.

I finally watched it last night and yes, Hinds is buffoonish. He's supposed to be a charming scoundrel and he has the scoundrel part down pat, but the charm is lacking. The rest of the cast is spot on, though, right down to the bottom-pinching Viktor. The power plays have a lot of potential...let's see what happens in the second episode.

The second episode was pretty good, but Ellen Burstyn can't sing any better now than she did in Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More. A frivolous matter: I was impressed by Sigourney Weaver's bare arms. How many 63-year-old women do you know with arms like that? The political scenes are still more interesting than the domestic scenes, but TBS keeps pushing it as a family drama.

Good, complex Closer tonight, with one mention of the leak, in a dismissive way. This was the first Monday with no more Eureka and I'm suffering terrible withdrawal pains.